Means for directing a contestant through a competition using wirelessly transmitted clues

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, computer program product, method and system are disclosed for directing a contestant in a competition through a series of puzzles to find a hidden item of value using digitized clues wirelessly transmitted to the contestant using SMS messaging. The digitized clues are transmitted sequentially to contestants in accordance with each contestant&#39;s, or team of contestants&#39;, satisfaction of performance benchmarks in the competition. Certain embodiments of the present invention include substitute means of generating and transmitting clues, as well as of collecting contestant performance data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to games and entertainment, and more particularlyrelates to a system and computer program product for directing acontestant in a competition to an item of value using wirelesslytransmitted clues.

2. Description of the Related Art

Reality television programs have steadily grown in popularity for morethan decade. Over time, the most successful reality television programshave pitted contestants against each other in various genres ofcompetitions for one or more prizes awaiting the winner, includingcompetitions for the affection of a man or woman, for recordingcontracts with prominent record labels, or for employment with highprofile organizations.

While the contestants in some of these competitions are advised orassisted in the competition by judges or counselors, the art does notteach competitions in which the contestants are directed electronicallyby a computer program product from one physical location to another inpursuit of a prize.

People across the world enjoy entertaining themselves with video gamesmanaged exclusively by computer program products which impose rules upongame participants in virtual environments. People across the world alsoenjoy watching sports and competitions managed manually by organizationsand individuals imposing rules upon game participants in real-worldenvironments. There are, however, no games in the industry whichcomprise computer programs that manage, and impose rules upon, gameparticipants competing for a prize in a real-world environment bydistributing clues to them electronically, which clues allow thecontestants to continue their participation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need existsfor a system, apparatus and computer program product for directingcontestant through a competition using wirelessly transmitted clues. Thepresent invention has been developed in response to the present state ofthe art; and, in particular, in response to the problems and needs inthe art that have not yet been fully solved by currently availablemethods, systems and apparatii, and that overcome many or all of theabove-discussed shortcomings in the art. Accordingly, the presentinvention has been developed to provide an apparatus, computer programproduct, and system for directing a contestant through a competitionusing wirelessly transmitted clues.

A system is disclosed that remotely directs a game contestant to thelocation of a prize, the system comprising: a persistent computerreadable storage; and an incorporation module configured to incorporatea contestant into a virtual game framework, the incorporation moduleconfigured to store the contestant's name and mobile phone number in adatabase record in the persistent computer readable storage, theincorporation module configured to verify a contestant's name andregistration by messaging the contestant wirelessly using one of a ShortMessage Service (SMS) and a Multimedia Message Service (MMS).

The system further comprises a distributor module configured toeffectuate a wireless distribution to the contestant of a digitized cluestored in persistent storage with a plurality of digitized clues, thedigitized clue indicative of the physical location of one or more itemsof value ensconced with a confirmation code, the digitized cluedistributed in response to receipt of SMS from the contestant thatsatisfies a confirmation code exclusively associated with the digitizedclue; a receiver module configured to await SMS receipt the confirmationcode sent by the contestant; and a measurement module configured tomeasure contestant game performance, the measurement module configuredto measure one or more of: the time that elapses between transmission ofa digitized clue to the contestant and receipt of the confirmationnumber associated with the digitized clue, mileage traveled by thecontestant, and points accumulated by the contestant, relative rank ofthe contestant.

The system also comprises a transmitter module configured to interfacewith a social networking website, the transmitter module configured totransmit one or more measurements of contestant performance data to thesocial networking website.

In some embodiments, the incorporation module is further configured toawait a reply SMS message from the contestant before incorporating thecontestant into the virtual game framework. In some embodiments, theincorporation module awaits a reply sent to short code telephone number.

In still further embodiments, the contestant is virtually grouped intoone of a plurality of contestant groups in accordance with apredetermined algorithm in which one or more factors comprisemeasurements of contestant's game performance. In various embodiments,the digitized clues are distributed sequentially in accordance with apredetermined sequence to each contestant in a contestant group in theplurality of contestant groups.

In other embodiments, the measurement module is in communication with aGlobal Positioning System (GPS) in possession of the contestant. Instill other embodiments, the receiver module is configured to await oneor more of: SMS receipt the confirmation code sent by the contestant,RFID confirmation of contestant presence at a predetermined location,GPS confirmation of contestant presence at a predetermined location ormagnetic card swipe.

The incorporation module may also be configured to incorporate a team ofcontestants into a single database record. The digitized clue may berandomly selected from the plurality of digitized clues.

The system may comprise a tallying module configured to receive andtally votes communicated telephonically by third-parties trackingcontestant performance, the tallying module storing vote tallies in thepersistent computer storage.

The digitized clue may be transmitted to the contestant accumulating thehighest vote tally, and may comprise an automatic call distributor(ACD). The confirmation code may be relayed by the contestant to thereceiver module telephonically with DTMF signaling.

The system may comprise an IVR platform configured to recognize oralrecitation of the confirmation code by the contestant. The transmittermodule may be further configured to transmit one or more measurements ofcontestant performance data electronically to a television network.

The item of value may comprise a pool of money that grows in directproportion to the amount of viewers garnered by the television networkbroadcasting a television program comprising contestant performance dataand commentary on the game.

The value of the item of value may grow with the number of participants.

Alternatively, the confirmation code may be stored at the location ofthe prize is generated by a computer device. The receiver module mayalso be further configured to acknowledge receipt of the confirmationcode in response to correct transmission of the confirmation receipt andfurther configured to inform the contestant of non-confirmation of theconfirmation code in response to incorrect transmission of theconfirmation code.

A computer program product is also disclosed, comprising a memorydevice, which computer program product is configured to performoperations that closely mirror the functions imparted to the systemrecited above. Additionally, an apparatus to direct contestants througha competition by wirelessly transmitting clues which comprises modulesfunctionally similar to those of the system is disclosed.

Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, orsimilar language does not imply that all of the features and advantagesthat may be realized with the present invention should be or are in anysingle embodiment of the invention. Rather, language referring to thefeatures and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature,advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus,discussion of the features and advantages, and similar language,throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to thesame embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics ofthe invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that theinvention may be practiced without one or more of the specific featuresor advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additionalfeatures and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments thatmay not be present in all embodiments of the invention.

These features and advantages of the present invention will become morefully apparent from the following description and appended claims, ormay be learned by the practice of the invention as set forthhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the advantages of the invention will be readilyunderstood, a more particular description of the invention will berendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated inthe appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict onlytypical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to beconsidered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be describedand explained with additional specificity and detail through the use ofthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating one embodiment ofa system that directs a contestant through a competition usingwirelessly transmitted clues in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating one embodiment ofa system that directs a contestant through a competition usingwirelessly transmitted clues in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of anapparatus for directing a contestant through a competition usingwirelessly transmitted clues in accordance with the present invention;and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of directing a contestant through acompetition using wirelessly transmitted clues in accordance with thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the present invention.Appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” andsimilar language throughout this specification may, but do notnecessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

The described features, structures, or characteristics of the inventionmay be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Inthe following description, numerous specific details are provided. Oneskilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the inventionmay be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or withother methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances,well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown ordescribed in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention. Theapparatus modules recited in the claims may be configured to impart therecited functionality to the apparatus.

FIG. 1 is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating one embodiment ofa system 100 that directs a contestant through a competition usingwirelessly transmitted clues in accordance with the present invention.The system 100 comprises a server 102, an SMS gateway provider 104, awireless network 106, an IVR 108, a persistent storage 109, ameasurement module 112, a digitized clue library 114, contestant records116, measurement data 118, a social networking website 120, and atelevision network 122. A contestant 110 and observer 124 interact withthe system 100.

Those of skill in the art recognize that the system 100 may be moresimple or complex than illustrated so long as the system 100 includesmodules or sub-systems that correspond to those described herein. Theserver 102 may comprise a computer program running on one or more dataprocessing devices (DPDs), such as a server, computer workstation,router, mainframe computer, or the like. In various embodiments, the DPDcomprises one or more processors. The processor is a computing devicewell-known to those in the art and may include an application-specificintegrated circuit (“ASIC”).

Typically, the server 102 comprises one or more central processing unitsexecuting software and/or firmware to control and manage the othercomponents within the system 100. In one embodiment, the server 102comprises hardware and/or software more commonly referred to as aMultiple Virtual Storage (MVS), OS/390, zSeries/Operating System (z/OS),UNIX, Linux, or Windows system 100.

In the shown embodiment, the server 102 creates contest records 116 frominformation gathered telephonically from a contestant 110 communicatingwith the server 102 wirelessly through an SMS Gateway Provider 104 usinga Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS)message. Alternatively, the server 102 may be in logical communicationwith contestants 110 through a networked environment, such as local areanetwork (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), including the wireless network106.

In alternative embodiments, the contestant 110 communicates with theserver 102 using other wireless personal DPDs such as laptops, SmartPhones, Palm Pilots®, GPS signaling devices, digital cameras, personalgaming system, and the like.

The server 102 is in logical communication, or networked communication,via the Internet (shown as wireless network 106) with one or more socialnetworking websites 120 and/or one or more television networks 122.

The information gathered by the system 100 and stored in contestantrecords 116 in persistent storage 109 comprises, in some embodiments, IPaddresses, names, email addresses, phone numbers, ages, and demographicinformation, including sex, race, income, and socioeconomic status. Thisinformation, in some embodiments, is input wirelessly using SMSs.

The server 102 may comprise, internally or externally, an InteractiveVoice Response (IVR) 108, which recognizes verbal and keypad input fromcallers and enables contestants 110 to input information to the IVR 102in the form of natural voice communication or DTMF keypad input.

The persistent storage 109 also stores a library of digitized clues 114.In the shown embodiment, the digitized clue library 114 comprises aplurality of textually displayable digitized clues stored as text incomputer readable files transmittable over a signal bearing medium. Inthe shown embodiment, the digitized clues are stored in database formatand are further described below in relation to FIG. 2.

The measurement module 112 measures contestant performance data, ormeasurement data 118, such as the amount of time that elapses betweendistribution of a digitized clue to a contestant 110 and receipt of aconfirmation code exclusively associated with that digitized clue. Themeasurement data 118 may also comprise a tally of the number ofdigitized clues that have been properly deciphered by one or morecontestants 110, mileage traveled by one or more contestants 110,subsequent clarifying clues (or cheats) that a contestant 110 requestsfrom the server 102 or that the server 102 distributes to one or morecontestants 110, and the like. The measurement data 118 may bedeterminative, dispositive, or partially determinative of which of aplurality of contestants 110 is ultimately chosen by the server 102 orthird-parties as the winner of the competition.

Alternatively, the server 102 may communicate with observers 124 usingSimple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Internet Message Access Protocol(IMAP), Post Office Protocol (POP), or other protocols well-known tothose of skill in the art.

The contestant 110 may comprise any individual, organization, or groupof individuals and/or organizations, including a man, woman, child,husband and wife, executive, athlete, or vagrant interested in competingin the competition, and the like.

The contestants 110 may be grouped into teams, the composition of whichmay be determined by the server 102, voters, observers 124,third-parties, or the contestants 110 themselves. The teams may comprisecontestants 110 of similarly situated racial, sexual, familial,geographic, economic or socioeconomic statii.

The persistent storage 109 provides persistent storage of data. Inparticular, the persistent storage 109 stores computer readable databasefiles, including a library of digitized clues 114 and contestant records116, which comprise information about contestants 110 who have beenincorporated into a virtual game structure (i.e. virtual competitionstructure or virtual game framework).

FIG. 2 is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating one embodiment ofa system 200 that directs a contestant through a competition usingwirelessly transmitted clues in accordance with the present invention.The system 200 comprises a server 102, a phone 202 a, a phone 202 b, aphone 202 c, registration information 204, GPS data 206, a confirmationcode 210 a, a digitized clue 212 a, a confirmation code 210 a, and adigitized clue 212 a. Contestants 110 a-c interact with the system 200.

The phones 202 a-c are substantially described above in relation to FIG.1.

The GPS data 206 comprises Global Positioning System (GPS) informationidentifying a contestant's 110 physical location. A GPS module may becomprised by the phones 202 a-c.

The digitized clues 212 a-b are described generally above in relation toFIG. 1 and more specifically described below. The digitized clues 212a-b are indicative of the physical location of an item of value. Thedigitized clues 212 a-b are stored in the library of digital clues 114.The digitized clues 212 a-b may directly denote the location of an itemof value, or merely suggest the location. The digitized clues 212 a-bcomprise computer readable files stored in persistent storage 109 andtransmittable over a signal bearing medium.

The digitized clues 212 a-b may comprise passwords, user names,encryption codes, hash keys, GPS coordinates, names, places, or colors.The digitized clues 212 a-b may merely be indicative of a sequence,order, or organization that can imposed on another dataset, such asnumbers gathered by contestants 110 in the field or given to them by theserver 102.

Alternatively, the digitized clues 212 a-b may be indicative of a pieceof information necessary to solving a larger puzzle, such as a crosswordpuzzle, maze. The digitized clues 114 may comprise acronyms, anagrams,bilingual words, and the like.

In some embodiments of the present invention, one or more observers 124vote for a winner of the competition telephonically, which votes aretallied by the server 102 and determinative of the winner, or a factorused by the system 200 in determining the winner.

In other embodiments, the server 102 determines the winner byidentifying the contest 110 with the highest relative position, or rank,with respect to other participants.

The item of value may comprise any item, or piece of information, ofvalue. The item of value may comprise gold, money, consumer goods, oreven another clue.

Located with each item of value is a confirmation code 210, discoverableby contestants 110 only upon finding the item of value.

The system 200 determines, in some embodiments, that a contestant 110has discovered the item of value by awaiting an SMS from the contestant110 containing the confirmation code found with the item of value. Inother embodiments, the contestant 110 scans a QR Code printed on, oraffixed to or near, the item of value. In still further embodiments, thecontestant 110 activates a passive or active RFID tag located with theitem of value. In still further embodiments, the contestant 110 swipes amagnetic card exclusively in the contestant's 110 possession through aswiping apparatus located with the item of value.

In the shown embodiment, contest 110 b and contestant 110 c transmit theconfirmation code 212 a and confirmation code 212 b respectively to theserver 102. After receiving the confirmation codes 212 a-b, andverifying their authenticity, the server 102 relays digitized clue 212 aand digitized clue 212 b to contestant 110 b and contestant 110 crespectively. Digitized clue 212 a and digitized clue 212 b comprisetextualized clues and are serialized in the digitized clue library 114to add sequence to the plurality of digitized clues 114 for orderingtheir distribution to contestants 110.

The digitized clues 212 may serialized numerically, as hash codes and/orin a has table, with ASCII, or through other methods, with theserialization formatted in persistent memory 109 in database columns inthe digitized clue library 114.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of anapparatus 300 for directing a contestant through a competition usingwirelessly transmitted clues in accordance with the present invention.The apparatus 300 comprises persistent storage 109, an incorporationmodule 302, a distributor module 304, a receiver module 306, ameasurement module 308, a grouping module 310, a tallying module 312, awebs server 314, a relational database management system (RDBMS) 316, aninteractive voice response (IVR) 318, a generation module 320, and arandomizer 322.

The persistent storage 109 and IVR 318 is substantially described abovein relation to FIGS. 1-2.

The modules of apparatus 300 are configured to substantially perform theoperations and functions of the systems 100 and 200 above.

The incorporation module 302 incorporates contestants 110 into thevirtual game framework. In some embodiments, the incorporation module302 will only incorporate contestants 110 in the virtual competitionstructure who have been invited to incorporate using electronic meanswell-known to those of skill in the art, including email.

Contestants may be incorporated into the virtual game framework byfilling about a questionnaire made available to them via the wirelessnetwork 106. In some embodiments, a predetermined number of contestants110 are randomly chosen for incorporation from a group of individuals inconcurrent wireless communication with server 102.

The distributor module 304 distributes digitized clues 212 tocontestants 111 wireless as substantially described above in relation toFIGS. 1-2.

The measurement module 112 is in logical communication with the server102, and gathers contestant measurement data 118. The measurement module112 relays this measurement data to a television network 122 using meanswell-known to those of skill in the art. In alternate embodiments, themeasurement module 112 additionally or alternatively relays measurementdata 118 to a social networking website, such as FaceBook®, Twitter®,MySpace®, and the like, where it can be made available to usersintegrated as virtual friends or enemies into one or more accounts withthe social networking site.

Further embodiments of the apparatus 300 may also comprise adetermination module which determines the winner of the competition. Thewinning contestant may be determined using a predetermined algorithmreliant on one or more parameters of measurement data 118 and/or votetallies.

The apparatus 300 comprises, in some embodiments, a Relational DatabaseManagement System (RDBMS) for managing computer readable files saved indatabase format in persistent storage 109 and/or the measurement module112, including IBM DB2®, SQL®, Oracle® and the like.

The grouping module groups contestants 110 into team as described above.

The tallying module tallies votes submitted by observers 124.

The web server 314 is substantially described above as the server 102,and may include Apache® and other software applications well-known tothose of skill in the art.

The generation module 320 generates information needed by the virtualgame framework, including conformation codes 210. Confirmation codes 210generated by the generation module may be encrypted and placed with theitem of value by the server on a digital display using means well-knownto those of skill in the art.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the generation module 320generates a physical location for placement of the item of value. Instill further embodiments, the generation module 320 is configured togenerate, or assist in generating, one or more digitized clues 212 fordistribution to the contestants 110.

The randomizer 322 randomly picks a digitized clue 212 from thedigitized clue library 114 for distribution to one or more contestants110 in some embodiments, or randomly picks a digitized clue 212 from agroup of digitized clues 212 not yet distributed to any contestant 110incorporated into the virtual game framework.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method 400 of directing a contestant througha competition using wirelessly transmitted clues in accordance with thepresent invention.

The method 400 begins 402 when a contestant is incorporated 404 into avirtual competition framework. In some embodiments, the contestant 110is incorporated 404 after the contestant 110 is electronically invitedto register for the competition. The contest 110 registers with a seriesof SMSs in some embodiments using a cellular phone 202.

The method 400 proceeds by checking 406 whether or not there aredigitized clues 212 in the library of digitized clue 114 which have notyet been distributed to a contestant 110, or which have yet to bedistributed to any of a plurality of contestants 110, including a teamof contestants.

If there is an undistributed digitized clue 212 in the library ofdigitized clues 114, the method proceeds by distributing 408 theundistributed digitized clue 212. In some embodiments, the digitizedclue 212 which is distributed is distributed in accordance with apredetermined sequence. In other embodiments, the digitized clue 212 isdistributed randomly. In still further embodiments, the digitized clue212 may be a bonus clue, which is distributed only to a contestant 110that has accumulated a certain quantity of points, or exceeded apredetermined performance threshold.

The method 400 proceeds by measuring 410 contestant performance data 118as substantially described above in relation to FIGS. 1-3.

The method 400 then awaits 412 receipt of the confirmation code 210 assubstantially described above in relation to FIGS. 1-3.

Once the confirmation code 210 is received, the method 400 proceeds bychecking 416 whether or not the confirmation code 210 is accurate. Ifthe confirmation code 210 is not accurate, the method 400 returns tostep 410 and continues measuring contestant 210 performance.

If the confirmation code 210 is confirmed upon receipt, the method 400returns to step 406 and determines 406 whether or not there are stillundistributed digitized clues 212 in the library of digitized clues 114.If there are not undistributed digitized clues 114, then the method 400proceeds and determines 418 a winner and notifies 420 the othercontestants 110 incorporated into the competition of the identity of thewinner. In some embodiments, observers 124, one or more televisionnetworks 122, and/or social networking websites are simultaneouslynotified of the determination 418 of a winner.

Finally, the method 400 terminates 422.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

1. A system to remotely direct a game contestant to the location of aprize, the system comprising: a persistent computer readable storage; anincorporation module configured to incorporate a contestant into avirtual game framework, the incorporation module configured to store thecontestant's name and mobile phone number in a database record in thepersistent computer readable storage, the incorporation moduleconfigured to verify a contestant's name and registration by messagingthe contestant wirelessly using one of a Short Message Service (SMS) anda Multimedia Message Service (MMS); a distributor module configured toeffectuate a wireless distribution to the contestant of a digitized cluestored in persistent storage with a plurality of digitized clues, thedigitized clue indicative of the physical location of one or more itemsof value ensconced with a confirmation code, the digitized cluedistributed in response to receipt of SMS from the contestant thatmatches the confirmation code exclusively associated with the digitizedclue, the confirmation code encrypted in the persistent computerreadable storage and discoverable exclusively at the physical locationindicated by the digitized clue; a receiver module configured to awaitSMS receipt the confirmation code sent by the contestant; a measurementmodule configured to measure contestant game performance, themeasurement module configured to measure one or more of: the time thatelapses between transmission of a digitized clue to the contestant andreceipt of the confirmation number associated with the digitized clue,mileage traveled by the contestant, relative position with respect toother participants, and points accumulated by the contestant; and apassive transmitter module configured to interface with a socialnetworking website, the transmitter module configured to transmit one ormore measurements of contestant performance data to the socialnetworking website.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the incorporationmodule is further configured to await a reply SMS message sent from thecontestant before incorporating the contestant into the virtual gameframework, the reply SMS sent to one of a short code text number and astandard telephone number.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theincorporation module is further configured to await a reply SMS messagesent to a standard telephone number from the contestant beforeincorporating the contestant into the virtual game framework
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising an active transmitter moduleconfigured to electronically transmit one or more measurements ofcontestant performance data to individuals who have affirmativelyrequested said contestant performance data via an Internet, thetransmission comprising one of: an SMS, an email, and an asynchronousAPI transmission via the Internet.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein theitem of value comprises an amount of money that grows in directproportion to one of: the digitally totaled amount of money receivedelectronically from sponsors of the competition and the amount ofobservers who have communicated with the active transmitter module. 6.The system of claim 1, wherein the contestant is virtually grouped intoone of a plurality of contestant groups in accordance with apredetermined algorithm.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the digitizedclues are distributed sequentially in accordance with a predeterminedsequence to each contestant in a contestant group in the plurality ofcontestant groups.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the measurementmodule is in communication with a Global Positioning System (GPS) inpossession of the contestant.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein thereceiver module is configured to await one or more of: SMS receipt theconfirmation code sent by the contestant, RFID confirmation ofcontestant presence at a predetermined location, an optical scan of a QRCode, GPS confirmation of contestant presence at a predeterminedlocation, and magnetic card swipe of a card in the possession of thecontestant.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the incorporation moduleis further configured to incorporate a team of contestants into a singledatabase record.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the digitized clueis randomly selected from the plurality of digitized clues.
 12. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a tallying module configured toreceive and tally votes communicated telephonically by third-partiestracking contestant performance, the tallying module storing votetallies in the persistent computer storage.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein the digitized clue is transmitted to the contestant accumulatingthe highest vote tally.
 14. The system of claim 1, further comprising anautomatic call distributor (ACD).
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein theconfirmation code is relayed by the contestant to the receiver moduletelephonically with DTMF signaling.
 16. The system of claim 1, whereinthe receiver module comprises in IVR platform configured to recognizeoral recitation of the confirmation code by the contestant.
 17. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the transmitter module is further configuredto transmit one or more measurements of contestant performance dataelectronically to a television network.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the item of value comprises a pool of money that grows in directproportion to the amount of viewers garnered by the television networkbroadcasting a television program comprising contestant performance dataand commentary on the game.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein theconfirmation code stored at the location of the prize is generated by acomputer device.
 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiver moduleis further configured to acknowledge receipt of the confirmation code inresponse to correct transmission of the confirmation receipt and furtherconfigured to inform the contestant of non-confirmation of theconfirmation code in response to incorrect transmission of theconfirmation code.
 21. A computer program product comprising a computerreadable medium having computer usable program code executable toperform operations for directing a game contestant to the location of aprize, the operations of the computer program product comprising:incorporating a contestant into a virtual game framework, theincorporation module configured to store the contestant's name andmobile phone number in a database record in the persistent computerreadable storage, the incorporation module configured to verify acontestant's name and registration by messaging the contestantwirelessly using one of a Short Message Service (SMS) and a MultimediaMessage Service (MMS); effectuating a wireless distribution to thecontestant of a digitized clue stored in persistent storage with aplurality of digitized clues, the digitized clue indicative of thephysical location of one or more items of value ensconced with aconfirmation code, the digitized clue distributed in response to receiptof SMS from the contestant that satisfies the confirmation codeexclusively associated with the digitized clue; awaiting SMS receipt theconfirmation code sent by the contestant; measuring one or more of: thetime that elapses between transmission of a digitized clue to thecontestant and receipt of the confirmation number associated with thedigitized clue, mileage traveled by the contestant, points accumulatedby the contestant, the order in which contestants reach physicallocations identified by the plurality of digitized clues; andinterfacing with a social networking website, the transmitter moduleconfigured to transmit one or more measurements of contestantperformance data to the social networking website.
 22. The computerprogram product of claim 21, further comprising distributing a digitizedclue sequentially, in accordance with a predetermined sequence, to eachcontestant in a contestant group in the plurality of contestant groups.